Gawker: valleywag, paul levine

Execs flee AdBrite

Owen Thomas — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:20:00 EDT

AdBrite, the online-ad network best known for its quirky founder, FuckedCompany creator Philip "Pud" Kaplan, is hiring an in-house lawyer. This is odd only in that last we heard, the online ad network already had one. Current general counsel Rebecca Eisenberg is just one of several vice presidents leaving the company, according to a tipster. Engineering VP Mike Reaves left in February, a month after HR chief Melissa Vernon. We'd also heard that cofounder Gidon Wise is out the door.

Our source speculates that Paul Levine and Jim Benton may be next to go. The tipster suggests that AdBrite CEO Iggy Fanlo is replacing Benton with a yet-to-be-hired SVP of sales.

This strikes us more than the usual amount of startup churn; when there's money to be made, Valley executives make a habit of sticking around for the payday. There's talk of an AdBrite IPO, but the enthusiasm for online ad networks on Madison Avenue and Wall Street is cooling fast.

(Photo by Brian Solis/Bub.blicio.us)

Is AdBrite coming apart?

Owen Thomas — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:40:00 EDT

A classic move by a startup hoping to recruit an executive is to offer him a board seat. So what to make of Zvents naming AdBrite executive Paul Levine to its board? Levine joined AdBrite, a San Francisco-based ad network, less than a year ago from Yahoo, where he ran that company's Yahoo Local properties. Since then, I've heard talk of high-level fights at AdBrite — the CEO and the head of sales yelling at each other behind closed doors, and constant turnover in the sales department.

Given that, is it any surprise Levine might be ready to bolt? From what we've heard of his achievements at Yahoo, he would make a fine CEO for an events-listing startup like Zvents — but perhaps the moments not quite right. It makes sense for Levine to keep his career options open while his AdBrite options vest. (Photo by James Duncan Davidson/O'Reilly Media)

Upcoming.org creator leaves Yahoo

Owen Thomas — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 13:39:40 EST

Andy Baio, the entrepreneur who created group calendar site Upcoming.org and sold it to Yahoo two years ago, is leaving the company. Not surprising that a company founder would leave after an acquisition, especially after two years, since that's a typical length of time for shares to vest under a deal's earnout provision. But Baio was part of a generation of startuppers brought in to transform Yahoo in the wake of that company's groundbreaking acquisition of Flickr — like, for example, Del.icio.us founder Joshua Schachter, shown here rocking out with Baio. Schachter is still a presence at Yahoo. But what's most notable about the list of people Baio thanks in his farewell post are the ones who are no longer there — or are on their way out.

Paul Levine, the GM of Yahoo Local, the group in which Upcoming found a home, left earlier this year for AdBrite. Cameron Marlow, a much-respected thinker in Yahoo Research, is also leaving, we hear. And Flickr cofounder Stewart Butterfield, who played a large role in Upcoming's acquisition, is not leaving Yahoo, as we previously reported. Sources familiar with Butterfield's thinking now say he doesn't plan to go back to running Flickr after his current paternity leave, instead finding another role within Yahoo.

(Photo by Scott Beale/Laughing Squid)

Yahoo's Paul Levine goes to AdBrite

Owen Thomas — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 16:05:02 EDT

I've confirmed yesterday's rumor: Paul Levine is, in fact, leaving Yahoo to join AdBrite. Expect the former general manager of Yahoo Local to boost the online-ad network's efforts in geotargeted advertising, the hot market for placing ads based on a user's physical location. (Photo by James Duncan Davidson/O'Reilly Media)

AdBrite to snag a Yahoo exec?

Owen Thomas — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 19:20:45 EDT

Paul Levine, we hear, is leaving as general manager of Yahoo Local. His destination? Possibly joining AdBrite, the San Francisco-based online ad network founded by Philip "Pud" Kaplan, who's still better known for starting FuckedCompany. Levine's well-known in the industry as an expert on geotargeting, or locally targeted advertising. If Levine is, in fact, going to AdBrite, does that mean the startup plans to make a move on the market for targeting consumers by locale? Or is Levine just looking for directions out of Yahoo? (Photo by James Duncan Davidson/O'Reilly Media)